Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: A Clueless Woman (A Woman Lost Book 0) by T.B. Markinson

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A Clueless Woman (A Woman Lost Book 0) by T.B. Markinson

A Romantic Fiction Novel published by T. B. Markinson (11/24/15)

Summary:

“No wonder I was single. I lacked charm, conversational skills, and panache.” (Kindle Locations 917-918).

Lizzie hasn’t had any for over a year, when she broke up with her crazy ex. Nowadays she knows books are a safer bet, especially since she still hasn’t gotten over the ex and the ex still comes around for handouts, or to blackmail Lizzie into handing out her inheritance hundred by hundred. Lizzie has been too embarrassed to tell anyone, even her closest friends. At least now she knows what to look for in a bad relationship, right? When her graduate professor introduces her to Sarah, Lizzie’s normally tongue-tied left-feet become even more hopelessly entangled as she falls head over heels for the gutsy heart-on-her-sleeve high school English teacher. Can Lizzie keep the bad news ex away from her budding new relationship or will the ex ruin another relationship and Lizzie’s next chance for love?

 

Keywords:

 Romance, Relationships, Friendships, Lesbians, Tension, Holding in Feelings, Coffee, Chai, Teacher, English Teacher, Professor, Student, Ex-relationships, Books, Research

 

My Review:

I wish I had the opportunity to read this book closer to the time I’d read the first book in the series, as I’d forgotten most everything about Lizzie and her world, but I found that I didn’t need to read A Woman Lost Book 1 first to completely enjoy A Clueless Woman.

As with her other books, T.B. Markinson builds her characters with an expertise and ease that is fun to read. Lizzie is completely developed. Sarah has her own quirks and personality. Even the ex has been thoroughly described.

There were more romantic/sexy scenes in A Clueless Woman than I remembered being in a Woman Lost. I thought there was a good balance between the romance, the build up and the rest of Lizzie’s story.

This novel was published by T. B. Markinson November 24th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 4.25

Links for more information:

Goodreads

T.B. Markinson’s website

Book Review: Fantasy of Fire (The Tainted Accords Book 3) by Kelly St. Clare

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Fantasy of Fire (The Tainted Accords Book 3) by Kelly St. Clare

A Fantasy Novel published by Kelly St Clare (01/14/16)

Summary:

“One of the best qualities you possess is a desire to be your strongest self.” (Kindle location 1855).

“Bad times sometimes call for dramatic change.” (Kindle location 2544).

Olina is still in the thick of it, with her Frost personality, her Olina self, and the person she presented to the Ire. She’s pulled in multiple directions, but remains true in wanting to help those around her. Can she be a ruler with mixed blood and will the people accept her are questions she must answer. Her mother has sent an army to Glacium and to prevent a slaughter Olina must help the Bruma, Solati enemy. But this isn’t the only issue, there is unrest between the outer and inner rings on Glacium and Olina must get to the bottom of it before civil war threatens to tear Glacium from the inside out before the Solati army even cross the Great Staircase.

 

Keywords:

Fighting, adventure, action, fantasy, sexual themes, friendship, fantasy, love, loyalty, brother, fear, rulers, power, intimidation, female main character, kick butt female, strategy, traitor, war, advisor

 

My Review:

I would never recommend reading books out of order in a series but St. Clare does a phenomenal job of expertly summarizing everything important that happened in the first two books so that we could get right into the thick of Olina’s/Frost’s story in this third book. She doesn’t leave me confused and forgetful of all the political and romantic actions that happened in previous books in this series.

I continue to fall in love with Olina and her strength. She really shows her mettle in this third book and everything she does is well thought out in regards to those around her. Olina continues to be kick butt and tough. She can hold her own, even with problems that are global and messy. She is presented with complex and politically difficult problems where the best solutions won’t please all. She is presented with her past and the possibility of a future. She really becomes a true leader in this book. She has some great lines and a wonderful speech in the middle during the big reveal scene that was so engaging. She also helpfully summarizes the previous action from books one and two during this speech, cementing in the reader’s mind what was going on from her perspective and how it affects those close to her. Olina really becomes a truly great character in this book.

The pacing and action of this book was excellent. There was much more balance between action and contemplation and between dialogue and narration that book two did not have. Book three really shows the finesse that St. Clare has developed through the Tainted Accords series and I can’t wait for book four.

This novel was published by Kelly St Clare on January 14th, 2016 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.75

Links for more information:

Kelly St. Clare’s Website

Facebook

Goodreads

Book Review: Scripting the Truth by T.A. Henry

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Scripting the Truth by T.A. Henry

An Historical Fiction Novel published through Amazon Digital Services (10/09/2015)

Summary:

“Sometimes I wonder why you put yourself through all this when clearly you knew nothing about the business.” (p. 152).

Lady Margaret Leighton aka Molly doesn’t want to marry whomever her mother approves because she already had her heart broken when the soldier she nursed during World War II vanished. Then she spots his face on a movie poster and she decides right then and there that she’ll do whatever it takes to find him and reconnect. But he’s a famous actor and she can’t even get into the studio without a reason. After failing at pretending to be an actress she finds out that the director’s looking for scripts. Margaret spends a feverish few days learning how to write a script and writing up the proceedings of her time as a QA in World War II. When this gets her in the door, no problems will stop her from finding the missed soldier and her happily ever after, or so she thinks.

Keywords:

World War II, London, QAs, Nursing, Soldiers, Love, Romance, Pursuing Romance, Movie, Actors, Script Writing, High Born, Suitors, Overbearing Mother, Brothers, Hunting Party, Career Woman

My Review:

How far would you go to see your crush again? She wrote a script about qa’s in the war that went unrewarded and then wrote a new script all about a love story without the war. After rewrites and negotiations she gets herself on set and her crush as leading man. What could go wrong?

Molly is determined, witty, clever, knows when to forge ahead and when you admit defeat. She’s amazingly stubborn when an idea grabs hold of her. She’s set herself up for a rude awakening of a failure.

Great balance between the actual script and the real story so I felt I knew what the script was about and how it paralleled Molly’s real experience without getting too much into the story-within-the-story. It was fun getting some real world and excellent script writing pointers for people who’ve never done it before, like Molly.

The dialogue was amazing, clever, and funny.

Overall this was a delightful novel and I can’t wait to read what T. A. Henry comes up with next

This novel was published through Amazon Digital Services 10/09/2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TLDR Star Rating: 5.0

Links for more information:

Goodreads

T.A. Henry’s Blog

Book Review: Cutter’s Hope: The Virtues Book I by A.J. Downey

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Damaged & Dangerous: The Sacred Hearts MC Book VI by A.J. Downey

A Romance Novel published by Second Circle Press (01/05/16)

Summary:

“My specialty? Non-lethal tactics designed to disarm an armed assailant.” (Kindle Locations 60-61).

Hope is on the search for her sister, Faith, who vanished almost without a trace two years ago. With her military training and her current job occupation as a person who trains others to disarm an armed assailant in a non-lethal manner, along with her take no BS attitude, Hope has the best chance out of anyone of finding her sister. The trail leads Hope to Cutter’s MC’s den, a bar on the coast, but Cutter and his crew won’t crack. Cutter can’t just tell Hope what she wants because he has his MC to look after the information she needs could land them in a world of trouble. Cutter, however, can’t just drop Hope because she’s the only woman in a long time, ever since Lil’ Bit, who can keep up with him and give him a run for his money.

 

Keywords:

Romance, motorcycle, club, friendship, loyalty, family, POV change, sexual content, violence, past life, moving on, strength, brave

My Review:

Downey knows how to write romance. She knows how to build up the tension until the breaking point and then giving us the goods. There seemed to be a lot more romantic scenes, i.e. sex scenes than in the SHMC romance, but I could be mistaken.

The story Downey builds in Cutter’s Hope is similar to and very different from her Sacred Hearts MC series. There are bikers and tough guys in both. There’s a bad situation in both. There’s someone who needs help in both. Cutter’s Hope, however, contains the toughest female in the SHMC and the Kracken MC club and she is amazing to watch. She is tough and violent like the MC men and can hold her own (and does) while still displaying a wide range of emotions and admitting to needing help when she’s at the end of her tether. Cutter is a character who also comes into his own in this series. We were only given a glimpse of him in the SHMC books and now he gets his own book to make us swoon.

I wish there was more finesse in the grammar, the writing style and sentence flow is not as sophisticated as the plot and characters and story. I absolutely love the way AJ can pull me in and make me love the story and the characters, but I had to re-read multiple sentences to understand what she was trying to say at times.

This novel was published by Second Circle Press on January 5th, 2016 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50

Links for more information:

A.J. Downey’s Blog

Goodreads

Facebook

Book Review: Mind: The Beginning (The Mind Series Book 1) by Jenn Nixon

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Mind: The Beginning (The Mind Series Book 1) by Jenn Nixon

A Science Fiction Novel published by Vamptasy Publishing (11/04/15)

Summary:

Dina Ranger is special, and just like her twin brother Duncan, she has telepathic abilities. Unlike her brother, she is more a loose cannon, moving away any time things get too heavy. Telepathy is kept under wraps, but sometimes Dina has to use her abilities. Eventually she comes back to her brother and his company of telepathic people because she is needed to help them solve an alien mystery. It isn’t just chance that has Dina involved in this case, and Dina will end up learning more about herself than she ever wanted. She will also meet Liam and their romance takes over.

 

Keywords:

Mind Powers, Psychic, Bad Guys, Aliens, Heritage, Ship, Romance, Sex, Twins, Multiple POV, Fighting, Chasing, Discovery, Government, Powers, Strong

 

My Review:

For a book marketed as a science fiction novel involving aliens and self-discovery, the book took a hot and heavy romantic turn about halfway through. The author left off her science fiction plot and relied heavily on the romance to intrigue the reader. I was not intrigued. I wanted the science fiction plot more than the romance between Liam and Dina and thought this romance took away from any science fiction elements in the book.

When the action started to pick up, it became too much. There wasn’t enough balance between action and romance and plot. It was all romance and all action after action after action sequence.

The concept of aliens and telepathy and truth about learning about Dina’s abilities were what grabbed me about this book, but the overwhelming head hopping, typos, and confusing mind talk and POV changes were hard to read. But if you like romance to be the main part of your sci-fi book, then you might like Mind: The Beginning. I, for one, will not read further in this series and was disappointed that it was classified as science fiction when it should have been marketed as a romance with sci-fi elements.

This novel was published by Vamptasy Publishing on November 4th, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 2.50

Links for more information:

Jenn Nixon’s Website

Goodreads

Book Review: Bread for Pharaoh by Jason Black

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 Bread for Pharaoh by Jason Black

A Middle Grade Historical Fiction Novel published by Elder Road LLC (12/02/13)

Summary:

“Have I started to forget that she is a noble? Or was I forgetting that I am just a peasant?” (Page 45).

San is the baker’s son and in Egyptian times that means he is the boy who delivers the bread and is destined to become the baker when his father retires. You would think delivering bread would be boring, but for San, he steps into the middle of a plot to kill high members of the nobility. San is intrigued by more than just plots, he discovers Aja, a girl who wants a friend as much as he does. Together they will have to uncover evil plots and figure out if they can remain friends from different classes of Egyptian society.

 

Keywords:

Egypt, Ruler, Pharaoh, Pyramids, Bread Maker, Messenger, Running, Evil Plots, Power Hungry, Sphinx, Stone Work, Cruel, Priest, High Priest, Family, Friendship, Playing, Children

My Review:

Bread for Pharaoh was a fun and imaginative book that I enjoyed reading. San was a fun character with personality. He was a protagonist that grabbed life and made it what he wanted. Though he came from the peasant class, he didn’t let that stop him from making a friend in the nobility, going out of his way to help those around him and in different classes, taking risks, pretending to be above his station to accomplish his goals, and being an all-around active protagonist. I was pleased to read about him as a character and was extra pleased that though he was a boy, his character and Aja’s could have been gender reversed in the same story. Neither character was ultimately defined by their class or their gender and this makes for a worthwhile read, especially for young impressionable readers.

This book excelled in its simplicity. The setting was simple and geographically enclosed, though the reader got an understanding of Egypt in that time period. The cast of characters wasn’t too large. The events weren’t too out of the ordinary, though exciting enough to keep the reader’s interest. Overall it was a well-done story.

This novel was published by Elder Road LLC on December 2nd, 2013 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 4.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Book Review: All Is Silence: Desert Lands Book I (Deserted Lands 1) by Robert L. Slater

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All Is Silence: Desert Lands Book I (Deserted Lands 1) by Robert L. Slater

A New Adult Dystopian Novel published by Rocket Tears Press (01/05/14)

Summary:

“Back then she had been afraid of the future. Now she feared the present.” (Page. 254).

Almost everyone dies from a disease, but Lizzy, who is suicidal and is now more lonely than ever, has ironically, survived. After puttering around her neighborhood for days, she puts a message out for people to come find her and lo and behold they do. She even finds the number to her long lost father and gives him a ring. Is the world as empty as she thought or will the remaining survivors surprise her?

Keywords:

Apocalypse, Dog-Man, Death, Friends, Future, Survival, Father, Disease, Technology Still Works, Travel, Fighting, Guns, Weather, Empty Houses, Empty Neighborhood, Loneliness, Repopulation

My Review:

I love end of the world survival stories and this one was an easy read that showed another possibility to the dystopian literature. Like a combination of the Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Blackout by Stephanie Erickson, All is Silence follows a troubled girl who has been left behind by most of the world and clings to the few people left that she knows. When she finds that her estranged father is alive, she drops everything she has left to meet up with him, along with her old friends and a few new ones she finds during her journey.

This novel should have started at part two. Part one was all about Lizzie and her suicidal past. I think being a survivor during the apocalypse is enough to make any normal teen angsty and to give her a troubled past was not necessary. She was not very likable in part one. I was also confused as to how old she was. She didn’t graduate high school but her actions in her back story made me think she was an adult (sex and bad decisions), but her actions in the present day were not always smart and made me think she was a young teenager who is not worldly wise.

Some of the characters were one dimensional. Unlike Lizzie who has a long way to rise to meet the occasion, which she does now and then when she has to, her father and her friends are simple characters. Her father, especially, was disappointing as an adult. He acted like a child, with simple emotions.

Finally, stop using elevators! Every time (and there were quite a few) that characters got into elevators I would get so stressed out. At some point technology would start to break down entirely and elevators would stop working. Who in their right mind would get into one after 99% of the population has died and it’s been weeks since normal economy and production etc??

I thought the addition of the dog man to the traveling group was really cool and I really liked the aspect he brought to the end of the world.

This novel was published by Rocket Tears Press on January 5th, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.50

Links for more information:

Robert L. Slater’s Website

Goodreads

Twitter

Book Review: Bento Box (The Gray Hat series) (Volume 1) by Tina Shelton

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Bento Box (The Gray Hat series) (Volume 1) by Tina Shelton

A Sci-Fi Thriller published by Barely Salvageable Press (07/01/15)

Summary:

“How do you catch someone who’s riding inside of someone else?” (Kindle Location 2644).
Carnelia is stuck working for future Seattle’s version of the mafia. Her boss has the goods on her, literally. He has her body and she has to get it back when a job she’s forced to do for him goes South. She’s a body jumper, stealing people’s bodies to do all sorts of criminal/sordid things with them. But her last body jump isn’t going so well and now her new skin is under attack and she only has so long in this new body before her boss does something to her original body or the tech prohibits her from jumping back.

Keywords:

Body Jumper, Tech, Bad Boss, Cops, Crime, Evil, Power, Mind, Soul, Out of Body, Seattle, Running for Your Life, Mind Control, Thief, Mirror, Struggles, Mafia, Thugs, Escape

 

My Review:

I was overjoyed to find that this book was set in my ‘hometown’ Seattle, but this is a Seattle in 2291. It is a Seattle that’s twisted and yet still familiar. The tech is out of this world, or at least out of body. In a bit of irony/hilarity, the rain is no more a problem, read the book to find out why.

Everything about this story was well done, well written, down to the names of the characters and the small details about future Seattle.

The level of sci fi detail was a total mind spin – like Inception but instead of dreaming, the characters are body jumping. What a fun and thoroughly detailed concept brought to life by Tina Shelton.  I really enjoyed it.

Shelton even delves into the particulars of what it would be like for a petite woman to jump into a 7’2″ man’s body, but never takes this too far.

This novel was published by Barely Salvageable Press July 1st, 2015 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating:4.75

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Tina Shelton’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: The Corsican by Tina Shelton

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The Corsican by Tina Shelton

A Sci-Fi Thriller published by Amazon Digital Services (04/02/14)

Summary:

“You’re not on Kalix any more, and those people have no further hold on you, except what you allow them.” (Page. 50).
It will take much more than simply grabbing and running to free these slaves from captivity. Their parents paid for their passage and the older kids will finally be able to hope for a future, but from the beginning of the rescue, things didn’t go as planned. Complications will arise from without and within the Corsican is it plods along to the planet Caserne, where slavery is illegal. The Corsican and her crew will have less than eighteen months to ready the kids for a new life and to battle their way to freedom from those who would keep them from it.

Keywords:

Slaves, Freedom, Pirates, Ship, Space, Journey, Revenge, Friendship, Loyalty, Pilot, Fighting, Training, Enemies, Technology, Leadership, Skills

My Review:

The Corsican is an enclosed world with lots of older kids who must learn to live together and learn together. There is a larger world out there that is trying to shut them down. This setup reminds me a lot of Ender’s Game, but Tina Shelton’s world has much more going on and the relationships she builds are more interesting and more varied than Card’s.

Shelton builds a story of change and forgiveness. Of friendships and loyalty. Of action and adventure. Of learning and growing. Of figuring out who they are and what they stand by. Of letting go of the past and embracing a free future full of possibilities. Of finding out what they’re good at. Of forming allegiances and seeking out revenge. Of petty complaints and drama. There is almost no end to what is going on in this story.

Everyone has their own story. In the large cast of characters, everyone has a backstory. Every character is fleshed out and different. Blaise is the noble who has a foot in both worlds and wants to be accepted for who he is but has a hard time of letting go of the prejudices he learned in his past. There is so much to learn within the story of Blaise and how he grows and develops. Violet is a mod with strength and speed, taught to be meek and doubtful of doing anything with her strengths. She could kick anyone’s butt but has learned to not stand up for herself. Rix has a unique ability with machines and putting her neck out for others. Tristan and Payet both have secret abilities that set them apart from the others. Then there’s Jestyn and Jack and the Corsican’s pilot and the mysterious Syrah. Tina Shelton gives us so many wonderful characters to root for.

This is a science fiction novel for anyone. It has fighting and revenge. Drama and peace negotiating among teenagers. You might even learn something about yourself, or at least how to handle stubborn, obnoxious, and at times pretentious kids.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services April 2nd, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating:5.00

Links for more information:

Goodreads

Tina Shelton’s Website

Twitter

Book Review: The GearMaker’s Locket by Shannon L. Reagan

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The GearMaker’s Locket by Shannon L. Reagan

A Clockpunk/Steampunk Adventure Novel published by Amazon Digital Services(03/31/14)

Summary:

“Lace, chains and sophistication.” (Page 14).

MIT student Copper Rose has always been gifted when it comes to machines and anything with gears and a motor, but when she finds her late grandmother’s locket, it doesn’t make sense to her. Its gears work on their own, without any battery and when she opens it to try to figure out more she is thrust into a different world, where clocks and gears prevail. In this new city everything is made of metal, even some of the people and she is infamous in this world, known as a GearMaker. Copper Rose must find her family and a way out as she gets caught between a GearMade’s demand for her to build machines that come to life and a life she never knew could exist for her.

Keywords:

Clocks, Gears, GearMaker, Mechanical, Good with Hands, Female Protagonist, Cliffhanger, Portal, Locket, Family, Loyalty, Machines, Life, Evil Leader, Power, Air Ship

My Review:

I liked the idea and premise of the story. It was like the author combined the idea of creating real life figures such as in Pinocchio with a Terminator type outcome. Combine this with gears and all the fun stuff of Steampunk and you have a compelling book just based on the details.

However, the plot points and plot arc were not as sophisticated as the book’s central idea and details. This novel went back and forth between capture and escape and the pattern become tired. I wanted an ending or something different. The ending I got was – read on to find out. The cliffhanger was not much of a cliffhanger because it could have ended with any one of Copper Rose’s escapes and the final one was almost no different. There was a twist at the end, but because the author didn’t give me any other possibilities, it was easy to guess. If you read this book I’m sure you’ll figure it out too.

I liked the characters more than the plot. Copper Rose, what a lovely name, was smart but not too smart. She was good with her hands but didn’t figure things out immediately. Alum was probably my favorite character because he is the underdog and I really enjoyed the romance in this book.

This novel was published by Amazon Digital Services on March 31st, 2014 and is available on Amazon here.

TL;DR Star Rating: 3.50

Links for more information:

Shannon Reagan’s Website

Goodreads

Twitter